Destiny: A Hunter's Origin
by RQuinn
Summary: Before the Traveler died, it took pieces of itself and created the Ghosts. These ghosts would scour the world for those that would guard the Last City of humanity against the unending tide of the Darkness. Their tireless search could be long, sometimes lasting centuries… but how does a Ghost determine who is worthy to be a Guardian and forever change their destiny?
1. The Collapse

"ALL CIVILIANS MAKE WAY TO THE WALL…ALL CIVILIANS MAKE WAY TO THE WALL…" A loud speaker shouts in Russian.

Chaos floods the streets of every city and town from the outlying villages surrounding the Cosmodrome to Moscow and to St. Petersburg. People grabbing what belongings they deemed most important, if any, scramble for their cars jamming as many people into the vehicles as possible. Street lights flicker from the failing power grid. Swarms of looters and vandals taking advantage of the vulnerable situation ransack stores to grab what goods they can. Fires burn in the streets as accidents caused by the chaos create explosive situations. Gun shots continually echo throughout the streets and alleys as once peaceful confrontations become deadly ones in the panic. Tens of thousands of cars carrying hundreds of thousands of fleeing refugees stuff the highways in bumper to bumper traffic as the last of humanity heads for their salvation.

Amongst the exodus to the Wall, a young man, devoid of family and friends, seeks speedy passage out of the atmosphere to escape the oncoming Darkness invading Earth. Still five miles away from the Wall, the immense silhouette can be seen stretching on far across the horizon. Tuvia sits quietly listening to the radio chatter of his junker car's stereo. Cars of all makes and models, packed full of people, honk their horns in a panic desperately wanting the standstill to end while exos and military personnel do their best to direct mayhem.

Tuvia is the only one in his vehicle, having refused to let anyone in. He knows what desperate lengths some people take for their own safety and he did not want to risk the confrontation. His small rusty sedan's engine rumbles loudly as it idles in the center lane. Tuvia did not bring much with him: a messenger bag with a change of clothes, some personal items and a hundred rounds of 7.62 ammo for the old Mosin Nagant his family had passed down since World War II. The old rifle, freshly cleaned and scope zeroed, lay in the passenger seat next to Tuvia locked and loaded. With the mass hysteria, Tuvia knew he could not play it safe and trust people to act civilly when society collapses.

Tuvia's radio struggles to relay the message playing across all channels. "- forces invade- all over – heavy concent- in Western Europe, America, Southern Afr – Austral- ." Through its static, he gets the gist of the message. For the past two decades, almost as long as Tuvia's been alive, aliens had been completely annihilating every human colony in the solar system. _No, not aliens….the Hive._ Humanity resisted but was no match for the onslaught of the Hive and the Darkness that followed. A month ago, the first Hive forces began decimating cities on Earth, and now the last remnants of humanity escape to their last strongholds – in Tuvia's case: the Cosmodrome.

An explosion sounds off in the distance followed by a chorus of screams approaching from behind. Tuvia turns to look through his rear window to see a bright red mushroom cloud growing a half mile down the road. Scores of people running on foot flood in his direction away from the explosion. Others seeing the fleeing tide, leave the "safety" of their vehicles joining the stampede toward the Wall. Tuvia continues to eye down the road waiting for something else to happen. What that something is he hoped would never come.

To his dismay, a second explosion, larger and closer than the first, lights the night sky. It is soon joined by a hailstorm of white blue plasma streaming through the fleeing crowd. Those hit by the plasma bolts drop to the ground causing those behind them to stumble and fall slowing the pace of the mob. The Hive continue their press, unloading their weapons into the unresisting humans. Tuvia knew that in minutes the creatures would be on top of him. Grabbing his bag and rifle, he kicks open his door and makes a break for the nearby woods.

Fighting across the grain of the throng, Tuvia squirms his way through the panicking crowd and stalled vehicles. The Hive speed ever closer as a few stray plasma shots whizz by Tuvia's head. Tuvia, upon reaching the guard rail of the highway, leaps onto the grassy field with the tree line only some thirty meters away. Dashing his way there, he keeps his head on the swivel in case any patrolling Hive are roaming the sides of the road as well. As he reaches the tree line, Tuvia ducks behind a lone oak with his rifle at the ready. The distance he covered was not far, but it was far enough for anyone, human or Hive, to have spotted him. What he didn't need was someone on his tail.

Tuvia watches on as people collapse in their struggle to escape the Hive but are quickly overtaken by the light hating monsters. The roars of the Hive Knights, their three green eyes glowing in the dark, echo down the road and are answered back by the screaming of women and children. The acolytes continue to fire their plasma weapons as the smaller decrepit-looking thrall slice any their claws could reach.

The Hive leaves a path of destruction in their wake. Cars crushed and burning, piles of bodies scorched and mutilated, and a fog of darkness creeping through the devastation consuming the light…this is their mark.

Tuvia, with little pity for those who did not make it, collects himself and withdraws into the darkness of the forest.


	2. From the Darkness A Light Shines

Tuvia carefully treads through the tranquil, moonlit forest. Though doing his best to keep quiet, every click of his rifle, every crunch of his footsteps, and even the hushed sounds of his breath are magnified in the extreme silence of the woods. The sounds of screams send haunting chills through the bristling branches of the pines towering into the night sky.

 _Okay,_ Tuvia thinks to himself, _first thing's first. Got to get my bearings._

Tuvia works his way up the rocky slope ahead of him, following the light of the moon illuminating the path between the shadows of the trees. Every step is carefully placed in fear of sending a rock tumbling down the stony hill. _No need to give myself away._ Upon reaching the crest of the hill, Tuvia sees the Wall of the Cosmodrome.

The monstrosity of metal and concrete, looming in the distance, lay five kilometers away…a very far five kilometers through the taiga over rocky terrain and across ice-cold streams. Snow has yet to fall this winter but the biting chill still burns Tuvia's exposed skin. Nevertheless, he must not worry about such tiny things for the biggest obstacle between him and the refuge of the Wall is the patrolling Hive roaming the coniferous forest hunting for any surviving humans.

A howling screech echoes over the landscape like a banshee wailing in response to all the blood being spilt this cold night. The call sends a chill up Tuvia's spine at the thought of what Hive creature makes such a sound. No matter, Tuvia must press on before the last of the Cosmodrome's ships take off, if they had not already.

Making his way down the slope, Tuvia again checks his footing for the gravel and dirt on this face seems more loose and prone to landslides. Before he makes halfway down the slope, a boulder with which he thought he could put all his weight on jars free as soon as the whole of his foot touches it. The large rock bounds down the rocky incline clunking its way down jarring free other boulder of equal and lesser size.

 _Crap!_ Tuvia abandons the slow approach and slides after the boulder. The noise of the gravel, like rain on a metal roof, almost cry out to the Hive that Tuvia is here. To make things worse, the loose dirt sends a dust cloud into the night sky like a smoke signal for the night-vision eyes of the Hive to spot.

 _This was a bad idea!_

Tuvia crashes to the ground amongst the dirt and stones. Bumbling to his feet, he races away before the Hive discover him. Running along the base of the slope Tuvia cuts back into the woods. A roar, similar to that of the Knight he witnessed out on the road, breaks the silence of the woods. Tuvia stops to listen. His heart is pounding in his chest like a hammer to an anvil. His heavy breathing in the cold rises up in the air like a puff of smoke.

Another roar followed by shorter, higher pitched howling draws Tuvia's attention in the direction of where he slid down the mountain. He breathes a short sigh of relief, but it is short lived as the chatter of the Hive draws nearer.

Continuing on his path, Tuvia continues to jog believing that with the Hive behind him now is the time to make up for lost time. He proceeds with caution weaving around the bases of the tall pines, splashing across shallow streams, and staggering over rocky outcrops.

Ten minutes tick by and Tuvia's distance to the Wall has been cut in half. He slows down, his body in need of a break. It had been awhile since he ran like that. He would almost have enjoyed it had the threat of death not been looming over his head. Spotting a cave at the base of a lone hill, Tuvia figures he can take shelter with the Hive safely behind him.

Tuvia rolls a rock over at the mouth of the cave and takes a seat resting against the cave wall. It is impossible to tell how far back the dark cave goes into the hill. Tuvia, of course, had forgotten to pack a flashlight or even some matches so searching the cave is a no go. To make due, Tuvia keeps his eyes to the outside but his hears to the still cave behind him.

Had the Hive not invaded, had the Darkness never existed, had Tuvia not needed to run for his life, this night would have been most beautiful. The aurora borealis glimmers in the sky in great green bands of shimmering light. The stars above twinkle as if nothing is going wrong on this tiny planet deep in the Milky Way galaxy. The moon illuminates the earth like a night time sun casting the long shadows of trees across the ground. The forest seems tranquil, but knowing what is lurking in its depths returns Tuvia to reality.

"Shhhhhh…"

Tuvia jumps up drawing his rifle and pointing it into the blackness. Just barely out of earshot, the sound of hushed whispering reaches Tuvia's ears.

"Who's there?" Tuvia says being sure to keep his voice down for those lurking from the woods. "Come out whovever's in there?"

Nobody responds adding to Tuvia's tension. He wants to take off back into the woods, but part of him keeps him grounded to the spot refusing to let him go. "There's no point in hiding…I heard you in there."

Tuvia waits and waits before a voice, a woman's voice, calls out. "Ok, ok, we're coming out. Just please don't shoot us."

Tuvia lowers his rifle. "I'm not gonna shoot. There's too many Hive."

From the blackness of the cave appears a woman with dirty blonde hair dressed in a heavy red coat with fur linings, a bearded man wearing an equally heavy black coat, and three children, two boys and a girl. The boys, twins by the looks of it, and the girl appear no older than 10 and 12 respectively. Their faces, rosy red from the chill, peek from behind their mother and father beneath thick wool caps.

"What were you doing in there?" Tuvia asks to break the silence.

The woman answers. "We-we were hiding from the monsters, of course."

"Not monsters-they're called Hive." Tuvia says bluntly. ""The last of the ships are leaving soon." Tuvia grabs his things and turns to leave. "If you hope to catch a ride on one you best keep moving."

"Wait!" The woman almost shouts but covers her mouth before the noise can escape. "Wait – take us with you…Please, I beg of you."

Tuvia pauses a moment. His instincts tell him not to drag these people along, but his conscience tells him otherwise. The Wall is only a couple kilometers away, and with that an escape out of this darkness. Tuvia glances at each of the family members before pausing at the worried faces of the children.

"…Fine."

Within a split second, the family gathers their things and were already out the entrance. The mother of the family pauses next to Tuvia and says, "Thank you. My name is Petra and this is my husband Mikhail."

"Tuvia…"

Petra grabs Tuvia's hand and kisses it with the utmost gratitude. "Thank you, Tuvia. You are like a guardian angel sent to save us."

Tuvia simply nods not for a second thinking he is any kind of 'guardian'.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. Next chapter to be posted in December.**

 **If you enjoyed, check out my other fanfic - Star Wars:An Old Republic Tale - A Lingering Hope**


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